Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Hoop Houses for Fall

I was planning on doing the last book club post for today but I'm sick and I spent a couple hours in the ER yesterday with my mom, so I just don't have the energy. Soon, though. I promise.

In the meantime, I thought I'd show you a picture of the hoop houses that I have set up for fall. The following picture is looking through two raised beds with floating row covers. They are set up over the top of irrigation tubing that's secured by short pieces of rebar. I've got 3 more raised beds that are planted with fall veggies (one with a hoop house over it).


In the bed in front, I've got:

* Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
* Swiss Chard
* Beets
* Carrots
* Winter Romaine Lettuce
* Brussels Sprouts

In the bed in back, I've got:

* Winter Romaine Lettuce
* Red Bunching Onions
* Mixed Lettuce n Greens

Against the fence in the far back are some of my grape vines. Here's a picture of the grapes growing. This is the first year they've produced. I don't think they'll ripen to the red color they should be.


The other beds hold variations of Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, chard, red bunching onions and carrots. I've had an infestation of cabbage worms and ended up pulling some things. You can see some of the damage in the first picture, but it's really the other beds that have the most damage.

I just planted next year's garlic and fava beans. Our strawberries and blackberries are still (slowly) producing as well as other herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, chives).

So, even though I feel like the main growing season is over, we still have a bunch to look forward to. That and the steady supply of eggs.

Do you have any fall vegetables still growing strong?

This post is part of this week's Homestead Barn Hop

7 comments:

Erin said...

My husband and I were just talking about this bring a La Nina winter. (much colder than usual) and how we should do some extra plant protection. I am going to show him this posting. Great idea.

Dogs or Dollars said...

This is my first year using a Hoop House. So far results are mixed, but yours looks lovely Crunchy. Any tips on pest control? Even more so than in summer, the bugs seem to be voracious.

CitricSugar said...

Get better! Much love to your mum.

Crunchy Chicken said...

Thanks, Citric.

Dogs or Dollars - I, myself, need tips on pest control. A lot of people recommend using Bt, but I'm still leery of it (it's considered "organic") since it affects other, beneficial critters (like bees). Spinosad is another one.

Dogs or Dollars said...

I've been using sluggo plus, and neem oil. That seems to have at least stifled the attack. My spinach, which I am dying to eat, is taking the brunt of the pillage.

I will look into the spinosad. Thanks.

Jen said...

I would love to hear what you use to build your hoop houses with. I haven't tried yet as I get stuck at the thought of putting pvc plastic near my veggies. What are your thoughts and experience on this? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Crunchy Chicken said...

@Jen - I used HDPE tubing that's usually used for piping potable water, reclaimed water, etc. It's safer than PVC, which I would avoid. While it's still polyethylene plastic, it just won't have the same issues as PVC offgassing and the like. I suppose the safest thing to use is copper tubing or something similar. I like the HDPE tubing because it is flexible and super easy to use.

To put up the hoops, I bought short sections of rebar and pounded those into the inside edges of the raised beds to attach the tubing to. I then used my tubing cutters to cut 1 inch sections that I clipped down the side to use as clips for my floating row covers.

I think I need to do a video to explain all this!